


basket weaving

by straddling_the_atmosphere



Series: missing black sails scenes [2]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Canon Character of Color, F/M, Gen, Missing Scene, Slavery, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 10:38:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15192977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straddling_the_atmosphere/pseuds/straddling_the_atmosphere
Summary: Madi and Julius talk, after everything.post 4x10





	basket weaving

Madi weaves baskets sometimes when she's bored. Her mother had made sure to teach her, just in case, and though Madi has no real need for it, she does it to soothe her restless fingers. To clear her head.

So, she weaves, gazing out at the ocean. It's quiet these days, the only traces of the war and the battle they fought in the slashed trees, the missing people. Cousins who don't have mothers, people who don't have brothers. She found one of Flint's books in the old cabin she was going through. There was an inscription in it that she hadn't read.

It's in her cabin now. She hadn't told Silver.

"He waits for you, you know," a voice says, and Madi looks up to see Julius, standing beside her. They gaze at the trees.

"I don't think it's me he waits for," she says. She's seen Silver on those cliffs, watching the sea.  

"Perhaps him too," Julius concedes. "But there is hope with you."

Madi puts down the basket, half done, and turns her head towards him. He has a strong face, almost stern, but his eyes are warm, his arms roped with scars. 

"How much of what he did was planned with you?" She has been worrying that in her mind for awhile because Silver is clever and convincing, but her people don't trust white men easily. And to broker such a deal as he and Jack had, he would have needed someone on his side. "When did you two begin it?"

Julius, to his credit, meets her eyes without shame. "We began to talk about it after the first battle in Nassau. Then he thought you died, and he was enraged." He looks rueful. "I think if you had stayed dead, he would have continued the war in your name."

Madi closes her eyes at that, fingers curling into fists. When she opens them again, he is still watching her.

"Martyrs are good for wars," he says. "Especially for those who don't believe in them to begin with." 

"Why?" she asks. "I would have thought you would want this more than anyone?"

"Because of where I come from? Where your mother comes from?" He gives her a frank look. "You are not naive, princess. But you are innocent in some ways of the world that your mother and I are not. She pulled you from your masters before it had time to leave as many scars. You are idealistic. It's not a bad thing. You will be a good queen one day. But sometimes, you must keep what you have, so you don't lose it all in the process of fighting a war you aren't ready for. It's a lesson I've learned well."

"It won't last," Madi says, voice soft. 

"Of course not. But it will be enough for now." He reaches out and squeezes her shoulder. "You will be able to learn in relative peace. To gather your strength, to keep the love of your people. And perhaps, when the time comes, when this treaty breaks, the world will be ready then. For what you would have died for."

Julius lets go of her arm and walks away, leaving Madi to watch him go. She thinks of nothing for a long time, just listening to the caw of the birds, the dull thud of an ax on a tree. She looks up and sees the dot of a man high above, on a cliff's edge so filled with memories. 

After a moment, she gathers her basket and heads home, where the village bustles with life.  

**Author's Note:**

> this was not the missing scene i intended to write next but it's what i had in my brain so.


End file.
